The Mayflower landed in November 1620, with 102 passengers and 30 crew members who were seeking religious freedom in what became Massachusetts.
It was farther north than their planned destination, the area that is now New York. Only 28 females were on board, and 45 passengers died the first winter. There are 26 documented families that claim a direct line back to those Mayflower voyagers. Many great books have been published on them.
If you’re interested, check out “Mayflower Families Through Five Generations” by the Mayflower Society. Also, there’s Robert Charles Anderson’s “The Mayflower Migration,” published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (AmericanAncestors.org), which offers many other publications and web links related to the Mayflower. Its website has a database that traces lineages past the first five generations.
Among the many organizations commemorating the Mayflower Landing anniversary is the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (themayflowersociety.org). Many festivities had been planned to honor the 400th anniversary, but most have been put on hold or now will be virtual gatherings.. For celebrations and their format, check plymouth400inc.org.
The November/December issue of Family Tree Magazine has a great article —“Pilgrims’ Pride” by Chris Child, editor of the Mayflower Descendant journal. Child works at the New England Historic Genealogical Society and certainly is in a position to know the ins and outs of the Mayflower story. He stresses that you should not take at face value family lore that you are a Mayflower descendant. Check it out. If you are going to document your Mayflower heritage, now is the time.
French genealogy site
A French genealogy website with family trees posted has proven useful to some. Go to https://en.geneanet.org and check it out, or post something yourself.
Censorship of genealogy records
Has anyone found censored genealogy records? Usually this happens when record abstracts are published, and the editor omits unsavory (in his or her view) facts. Some “unsavory” census occupations also have been eliminated as a search item on Ancestry.com. Let me know if you have other examples.
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